Alto Moncayo, Campo de Borja, Aquilon

delicious with room to go

2005 vintage

Red berries with hints of spice, vanilla, cocoa, and lavender. Ultra fine with suave tannins, good depth, great balance, and a long finish. Ample fruit without being jammy nor heavy, but rather refined for a Moncayo with great balance and a herbal undertone that lingers on the long savory finish. High alcohol content, as is typical for Aquilon, but it is perfectly integrated and there is no heat whatsoever. Very good vintage for this bottle, and still in a good …

2005 vintage

In my cellar since release, Corvine pour with two hours of air in the glass. It is a nearly opaque dark garnet color. 16% ABV. Heavy-handed new oak aging is clear (after checking, it saw 100% new oak 60/40 American/French). Definitely a "Parker-style" modern wine. Nose has alcohol, vanilla, cedar, dark berry, "old ladies" perfume and paint/varnish-like volatiles. Acidity is pretty high, tannins starting to integrate though somewhat soft. Very rich and fleshy, but it does have a slightly nuanced …

2005 vintage

The wine looks inky colored. The legs are slow. It smells like blackberry, raspberry, black currant (cassis), prune, plum, forest floor, stoniness, toast, coffee, oak, cedar, vanilla, cinnamon and clove. The body is full. The wine has silky texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity. So alive wine, excellent for drinking now.

2005 vintage

A fantastic expression of 100% Garnacha at it's very best, and this 2005 has another 8-10 years in it. Very big, bold, and full bodied, 16% abv. The red fruits stood stood out to me more than the bottle I had a few years ago. Drinking very smooth right now. Great balance, length finish, intensity and complexity.

2005 vintage

深紫红色，闻香有明显奶香，黑果和紫罗兰香气，入口酸度中等，单宁紧致，颗粒细腻如粉，甜美风格，奶香、巧克力混合着成熟黑果，余味香草奶油。香气浓郁，酒体饱满的一支酒，能感觉得出来酒精度高，不过做得很平衡，酒液丝滑。非常新世界，细细体会，虽然浓郁，但非常平衡，已经超越了普通歌海娜酒的特征，细腻丝滑，没有任何粗糙感，所以没有人能够盲品出来。Aquilon 就是 Chris Ringland 用歌海娜演绎他的酿酒哲学的最高级呈现，如果你喜欢探索这个品种，那么这一款一定不能错过，它与别的任何歌海娜名作都不一样。

2014 vintage

Sweet dense fruit, super rich mouthfeel and powerful extraction. Tremendous acidity and backbone, out of this world. Right up my alley, loved this wine.

2005 vintage

Eccessive wine, too much extraction too much alchol (16) too much of everything really, but somehow balanced and pleasant

2014 vintage

Had to pair w a Tapas dinner. Favourite amongst the wine aficionados on the table. Fruit, long finish, no surprises from this vineyard - always a great wine.

2005 vintage

One of my favorite Spanish wines, how often do you find a grenacha (Grenache) that can hang with a big time Cabernet? If you think that Grenache is a light bodied grape without a lot going on this wine will prove you wrong. Deep dark bruising fruit with balance and finish.

2005 vintage

16% abv! Super big and bold Garnacha, strong tannins even after a double vSpin. Full of flavors, blackberry, blueberries, chocolate, oak, pepper, smoke. This one has alot more years in it. Drinking it, it reminded me of drinking a Vega Sicilia Valbuena or an Unico even though made from different grapes. The alcohol level is what holds this back in my rating.

2005 vintage

Opaque. Oak and dark fruits on the evasive nose. Not much else on the lifeless palate. What has always set this wine apart is its extreme silkiness. However, in the dumb phase it now seems to be in, that feel has turned almost fabric-like. Revisit in 2020+.

2014 vintage

Amazing wine, drinking perfectly but will last a bit longer

2005 vintage

Very nice but there is a bit of something rough that comes through on the finish, perhaps the alcohol? Anyway, it’s been 20 minutes since opening the bottle and it’s already improving, the fruit concentration is nice and balanced. I guess this will get better over the next hour or two but my score is based on right now.

2005 vintage

Pulled 3 oz with Coravin, passed through vinturini and let sit for an hour. Medium ruby color with some slight Garnet at the fringes. Leather, blueberry, coconut and violets on the nose. Flat smooth entry that then rolls ever the toungue with waves of cedar and tree branches and crash into the back of the palate with concentrated blueberry, raspberry and some heat. Excellent wine, Its more about power than elegance, should come together on the next few years.

2005 vintage

Decanted. Beautifully scented and complex on the nose with soft leather and sweet pipe tobacco notes that marry with dried blueberry, baked plum, cherry compote, fig preserve, sarsaparilla, vanilla and anise that show hints of sage, slate, forrest floor and dried violet. Absolutely stunning on the palate displaying a gorgeous silky texture, fleshy, voluptuous density and fine, sweet tannins that share the balance with acidity. Seamless in all manners. Flavors envelope the palate in complex notes of suede, dried blueberry, …

2005 vintage

This is superb, near perfection. Upon opening, the alcohol was a bit off-putting, like rubbing alcohol. But that burned off quickly. Dark fruits and dusty tannins dominated, with perfectly balanced acid for a smooooth drink and medium to long finish. Drank this tonight with a meal of king crab legs- not the perfect pairing I suppose but there was nothing in this meal that wasn't singularly excellent. But i should have opened sooner. My final glass- having decanted for about …

2005 vintage

Lovely and silky smooth. Excellent representation of this varietal and its capabilities from Spain.

2005 vintage

Tasted blind along side what turned out to be Clos des Papes 2003 and Sine Qua Non Stein 2012. Elegant and rich, showing little age. Dark garnet. 16% alcohol, which was the highest of the group, but not noticeably so. Black cherry, caramel, toast, obvious oak, tobacco. No hurry on drinking these.

2005 vintage

This is the mother of Moncayos". Silky smooth, full bodied, with a hint of tobacco. I decanted it about 4 hours and it was not nearly enough. It just got better the longer we held it. Outstanding! Also, still young; it can use some more aging. Unfortunately, it was my last one!

2005 vintage

Plum; supple; ample sweet opulent raisen-cherry; heavy and concentrated.

2005 vintage

Best of tasting -- incredibly complex

2005 vintage

RUSSK WW at Il Mulino in Surfside. GSM no BB. 91+

2005 vintage

A great and wonderful and complex bouquet. Luxurious oak, creamy, laurel and sweet. Same on the palate; very luxurious and complex with a lot of sweetness, beautiful acidity, herbs and spices and an enormously long finish. An extraordinary wine. Already a beauty and with a future of 5 - 7+ years.

2005 vintage

WOW! Grab a Steak and enjoy. This is the definition of full body! 100% granache. Drank with a high end CDP that was 80% granache and the contrast was very interesting. The Aquilon was bigger, bolder and had a 45+ second finish - and only because I got impatient and took another bite of the steak! Lacked the finesse and black pepperthat the French can coax from Granache; but clearly exhibited much more black sweet fruit. A fruit bomb!

2005 vintage

Pre-Mothers' Day gathering at Holger's and Shelley's : Decanted several hours. Interesting to revisit this wine 3 years later. The nose still offers up huge black and red berries as well as bacon/coffee and oak notes that express as chocolate/vanilla. The wine slathers the palate with super rich dark fruits that lean towards sweetness. But it seemed to me that the structure noted before was diminished this go round and did not quite balance out the truly amazing deep but …

2005 vintage

HC Grenache Tasting (Harvard Club of Boston) : This bottle was really singing last night. A deep rich nose of sweet strawberries, vanilla, and A hint of mocha. The body seemed very well balanced - rich and ripe without being cloying or over extracted. A huge blend of black cherry, strawberries, and a hint again of the mocha. Wine #3 of the group.

2005 vintage

Huge, thck wine. Great viscocity. Fills your whole mouth. Everything a grenache should be and more. Plums, plums and more plums were my primary fruit in this monster. Wow. This is good stuff. One of best grenaches to date.

2005 vintage

Are you sure?

Alto Moncayo, Campo de Borja, Aquilon

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews